today i want to describe the strategic environment shaping our future. the progress we have made toward implementing the strategy and the risks we face as they work every day to try to keep america safe and secure. before i continue, let me pay tribute to a couple people here who join me at the head table. my deputy secretary plays a crucial role in helping me and dod develop and implement this strategy. i deeply appreciate his dedication and commitment to the department. i also want to pay tribute to my undersecretary for policy who was also here and worked very hard on that strategy to ensure that we develop the right strategy for the future. i should also say dempsey and all of the members all participated. in a kind of unprecedented effort to ultimately discuss what were the best steps be could take for the future. one year ago today, soldiers from the first calvary division went out of iraq into kuwait as part of the last convoy of u.s. troops to leave iraq. that war came to an end. last year, we also participated in a complex but successful nato mi